Bound by Love, Fueled by Vengeance Novel – Chapter 1 The Fire Ashley Prescott was the villain in everyone’s eyes. By the time she died, she had lost every person who might once have stood by her side. Her death came at the hands of her own son, who set the fire that ultimately took her life. Yet instead of dying for good, Ashley woke up and found she had traveled five years back. ***** “Ash, I’m sorry. I know I’ve hurt you, but I can’t give Wesley up. We love each other.” The familiar voice instantly pulled Ashley back to reality. At the foot of the staircase, Amelia Prescott lay sprawled across the marble floor. Her designer gown was stained with blood, and tears streamed down her pale face as she looked up helplessly. Ashley stood frozen at the top of the stairs. She stared at the scene and immediately realized what was happening.
She had returned to the year she was 23, a time when nearly everyone already viewed her as a jealous and malicious woman. In her previous life, Ashley had been the Prescott family’s biological daughter. Because of a hospital mix-up, she had spent the first eighteen years of her life growing up far from her real family, enduring countless hardships. Although Ashley was eventually brought back to the Prescott family, Amelia remained the center of everyone’s world. She was protected by Ashley’s parents and adored by Ashley’s four brothers. No matter how hard Ashley tried, she always seemed to be the unwanted one. Gradually, resentment and jealousy had consumed her. She hated seeing Amelia enjoy the love and attention that she had longed for all her life. Things only became worse after Ashley was forced to marry William Rhodes, the most notorious devil in Astelia. William treated their marriage like a game.
He delighted in making Ashley suffer and often forced her to take poison. Had Ashley not possessed some medical knowledge of her own, she doubted she would have survived as long as she did. After spending years surrounded by cruelty and disappointment, a totally different man appeared in Ashley’s life—Wesley Pierce. He was gentle, kind, and carried himself with an effortless grace that drew people to him. To Ashley, he had been one of the few bright spots in an otherwise miserable life. Ashley fell head over heels for him. Unfortunately, Wesley had engaged Amelia. In Ashley’s previous life, today was the day Wesley and Amelia were supposed to announce their engagement. When Ashley learned the news, she rushed to the engagement party, determined to confront Amelia, and things spiraled out of control. The moment Ashley opened her eyes, she found herself back at the very scene where Amelia had fallen down the stairs. The grand hall of Prescott Manor was filled with guests, all of whom had been drawn over by the commotion. Among them, Wesley arrived first.
He immediately knelt beside Amelia and carefully helped her into his arms. Only after making sure she was alright did he look up at Ashley. His gaze carried the same disappointment she remembered from her previous life. But this time, Ashley, who had experienced this once, felt nothing at all. Wesley sighed helplessly and said, “Ashley, I feel bad for what you went through. But you can’t dump all your pain and anger on Amelia. She didn’t do anything to deserve this.” If this had happened in her previous life, his words would have shattered her. Now, however, Ashley felt surprisingly calm. Perhaps she was simply too tired to care anymore. Yet that didn’t mean she believed Amelia was innocent. Even now, Ashley still felt a trace of hostility whenever she looked at Amelia. But unlike before, she no longer had any desire to fight for people’s approval. Since fate had given her a second chance, she wasn’t about to waste it again. She had already spent one lifetime chasing after love and acceptance from people who never truly chose me. She wouldn’t make that mistake twice.
Before her son burned her alive, he had looked at her with nothing but hatred and said, “You are never better than Amelia. You’re nothing but a rat in the gutter. I really wish she could be my mom.” Even now, remembering those words made Ashley’s chest tighten. But when she thought carefully about her previous life, she had to admit that she hadn’t been a good mother. Take today, for example. In order to ruin Amelia and Wesley’s engagement party, Ashley had left her three-year-old son alone in his room. Then, for some unknown reason, a fire had broken out. Worse, the door had been locked from the inside. If the servants hadn’t noticed in time, her own son might have burned to death right there. From that day on, the boy, who had never been close to her in the first place, hated her even more. Ashley wondered, ‘Did he burn me alive in my last life because I nearly got him killed in that fire?’ The thought had barely crossed her mind when her father, Liam Prescott, and her mother, Sofia Prescott, rushed to Amelia’s side.
Sofia snapped at Ashley, “Ashley, what on earth are you doing? Have you lost your mind?” Amelia collapsed into Sofia’s arms and sobbed, “Mom, I’m fine. Ash didn’t push me. I just slipped and fell on my own.” Her explanation did nothing to clear Ashley’s name. If anything, it only made the scene look worse. The relatives around them immediately began pointing fingers at Ashley, and their accusations came one after another. Ashley had no time to waste arguing with them. She had to get home and stop that fire. Before the crowd could close in around her, she rushed down the stairs. A few people tried to block her way, but Ashley didn’t bother explaining herself. She knocked them aside and forced her way through. She had no interest in proving anything to these people. She had never been a saint. Even given a second chance, she had no plans to be a kind and forgiving woman. All she wanted was to keep herself alive and find a way to leave Astelia, the place that had ruined her once before. Ashley acted recklessly, but her parents had no time to deal with her.
Their sweetheart, Amelia, was injured, and to them, that was the only thing that mattered. The Prescotts adored Amelia to an almost ridiculous degree. If she so much as scratched a finger, they would call a doctor to clean and bandage it. ***** Ashley soon arrived at Willowmere Estate, one of the most luxurious private estates in Winsport. The place sat far from the noise of the city, surrounded by mountains and water. The air was clean, the grounds were vast, and the entire estate covered nearly 25 acres. Even the water used to maintain the lawns was probably more than an ordinary person would use in a lifetime. Most outrageous of all, there was a castle-like mansion in the middle of the estate, grand enough to make the White House look modest. Ashley stared at the enormous estate and thought, ‘No wonder it took the servants forever to bring water when Miles’ room caught fire.’ Even so, Ashley was still too late. The moment she entered the mansion, she saw smoke rising from the direction of her son’s room. Dozens of servants were carrying buckets of water into the elevator, their faces pale with panic.
His room was on the eighth floor. Before the elevator doors could close, Ashley rushed inside and went up with them. When they reached the door, however, they ran into another problem. The room was locked, so no one could get in. The door had the highest level of security, and forcing it open was almost impossible. A locksmith was still on his way. Ashley remembered what had happened in her previous life. Her son had suffered severe burns because the locksmith had arrived too late. If the door had opened even a little sooner, his injuries wouldn’t have been nearly as bad. This time, Ashley didn’t hesitate. She pushed through the helpless servants crowding the doorway and said calmly, “Let me try.” The servants were displeased. In their eyes, Ashley had always been useless around the house. She never did anything proper, barely cared about her son, and caused trouble more often than she solved it. Hearing that, they tried to stop Ashley. “Mrs. Rhodes, please don’t make this harder for us.” “This isn’t the time for games.” But they had barely finished speaking, Ashley had already taken out a thin needle from somewhere and slipped it into the lock. Then the door opened. Everyone stared in shock. Even a professional locksmith would have needed time to open a door like that, yet Ashley had done it in seconds. Before anyone could react, Ashley grabbed a bucket of water and dumped it over herself. Then she rushed into the room. The fire had only just begun to spread, so it hadn’t yet swallowed the entire space. In the middle of the flames stood her son, Miles Rhodes. His face showed no fear, and not a single tear fell from his eyes. He looked as if he had already made peace with dying. Ashley cursed inwardly, ‘Are you seriously trying to look cool right now?’ She wasted no time and rushed through the heat. Then she grabbed Miles and lifted him into her arms. Just as she turned to leave, the wardrobe in front of them suddenly toppled over.
Most people wouldn’t have been able to dodge in time, yet Ashley did. With Miles in her arms, she moved fast enough to avoid it and rushed out of the room safely. The servants immediately poured in after them and put out the fire before it could spread further. ***** Before long, Ashley and Miles were brought to Winsport Medical Center. This time, Miles hadn’t been burned. Ashley, however, had suffered a burn on her right arm. Miles sat beside the hospital bed, quietly watching his mother. His tone was calm, almost too mature for a three-year-old child. “Why did you save me?” Ashley hadn’t had time to answer when the door was suddenly pushed open. Two bodyguards appeared and stepped aside with deep bows. They said in unison, “Mr. Rhodes, please come in.” At the sound of that name, Ashley instinctively looked up. Then she saw her husband, William Rhodes, the only person she knew who was even more ruthless than she was.